# Guenia Gawendo

> Guenia Gawendo is a seed investor at Telefónica Innovation Ventures backing Biometrics. See 6 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Telefónica Innovation Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/telefonica-innovation-ventures)
- Location: San Francisco, United States
- Total investments: 6
- Last investment: Jul 2023
- Lead investor: 17%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gueniagawendo/

Guenia Gawendo is a seed investor at Telefónica Innovation Ventures in San Francisco focused on Biometrics and Cyber Security. Guenia Gawendo - Managing Director @ Telefónica Innovation Ventures

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Biometrics | 2 | 33% |
| Cyber Security | 2 | 33% |
| Fraud Detection | 2 | 33% |
| Internet of Things | 2 | 33% |
| Telecommunications | 2 | 33% |

16 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 2 | 33% |
| Series B | 2 | 33% |
| Series D | 1 | 17% |
| Venture - Series Unknown | 1 | 17% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Israel | 1 | 17% |
| Argentina | 1 | 17% |
| Singapore | 1 | 17% |
| United States | 1 | 17% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 17% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Airalo | Airalo is the world’s first eSIM store for travellers to access over 190+ eSIMs at the most affordable, local rates from around the world, all via eSIM compatible smartphone, tablet or PC. Airalo offers you both connectivity and freedom - you’ll never have to carry multiple SIM cards or change your number again, no matter where you are in theworld. | $60M | Series B | Jul 31, 2023 |  |
| Nozomi Networks | Nozomi Networks offers a cybersecurity platform that protects operational technology (OT), Internet of Things (IoT), and cyber‑physical systems through unified visibility, threat detection, and automated remediation. Nozomi Networks delivers network and endpoint monitoring via sensors such as Guardian (passive OT/IoT network visibility), Arcendpoint agents, and Guardian Air for wireless spectrum insight. It supports data collection in both cloud and on‑prem environments via Vantage and Central Management Console. Advanced analysis tools—Asset Intelligence, Threat Intelligence, Smart Polling, and Vantage IQ—apply AI to classify devices, prioritize vulnerabilities, detect anomalies, and support guided remediation workflows. | $100M | Series D | Aug 02, 2021 |  |
| VU | Sebastián Stranieri, is CEO and founder of VU Inc, a multinational company that provides secure and frictionless digital experiences for more than 350 million people over the world. Passionate about technology, he has more than two decades of experience in the cybersecurity industry. His career has always been driven by the desire to innovate insafer solutions that improve the quality of life of citizens and companies, and that is how VU was born. VU focuses on the new concept of “online persona” providing robust identity verification for its users, which allows a more holistic authentication paradigm. Through the combination of traditional cybersecurity controls with geolocation, biometrics and user behavior analysis based on machine learning, VU enables a continuous authentication process where the user is seen as a whole, rather than a set of credentials. In July 2021, VU announced a $12 million Series B funding round with investors such as Globant and Telefonica. Sebastian, is also an Endeavor entrepreneur, he was recognized by MIT Technology Review magazine in 2013 and selected by Forbes Argentina as one of the 30 Promises in 2017. His passion for what he does led him to win the Sadosky Award for Entrepreneur of the Year for the Chamber of the Argentine Software Industry (CESSI) in 2019. VU received several recognitions, such as: Cybersecurity Ventures ranking 500, Santander’s X100 and VISA - La Nación’s Innovation Award, in the category of payment methods and cybersecurity for developing new business models in financial services through the use of technology that mark socioeconomic trends, changes in consumption habits and payment methods and also improve the security of transactions, among many acknowledgments from Microsoft as partners and for our technology, such as: AI Latam Partner of the Year (2021), Global Finalists in IA and Government (2021) and Country Partner of the Year (Argentina, 2019 and Bolivia, 2020) | $12M | Series B | Jul 12, 2021 |  |
| Monogoto | Monogoto is a cloud-based cellular network. Its API-driven Infrastructure-as-a-Service was designed from the ground up with simplicity in mind to enable cellular connectivity with existing enterprise IT infrastructure. With hundreds of ready-to-use APIs, Monogoto offers cellular connectivity with edge to the cloud security for IoT, Private LTE, and5G use cases. Its services include full audit for all network events with anomaly detection and alerts automation. Monogoto’s enterprise-friendly solution enables customers to consume advanced cellular VAS with zero CAPEX and an “as-a-Service” business model. The Monogoto network is distributed globally with public connectivity in 180 countries. Helping companies to comply with regulation, the Monogoto solution supports on-premise local breakout topology for private LTE/5G networks. | $11M | Seed | Jun 09, 2021 |  |
| fraud.com | fraud.com develops technologies to help financial institutions tackle fraud through one unified solution. fraud.com offers user authentication, end-to-end fraud prevention, operations and management solutions that focus on the customer journey where enterprises can simplify their fraud management operations to deliver an improved customerexperience.Our technologies are designed to combat financial crime at digital enterprises in financial services, E-Commerce, Gaming, Health, Aviation, Hospitality, Government sectors. Our unified operations architecture combines ID Proofing, KYC, Biometric Authentication via face and voice recognition, Collective Intelligence, Rule-based decision engines, Machine Learning, Robotic Process Automation and Link Analysis to combat fraud. |  | Seed | Mar 18, 2021 |  |
| Nozomi Networks | Nozomi Networks offers a cybersecurity platform that protects operational technology (OT), Internet of Things (IoT), and cyber‑physical systems through unified visibility, threat detection, and automated remediation. Nozomi Networks delivers network and endpoint monitoring via sensors such as Guardian (passive OT/IoT network visibility), Arcendpoint agents, and Guardian Air for wireless spectrum insight. It supports data collection in both cloud and on‑prem environments via Vantage and Central Management Console. Advanced analysis tools—Asset Intelligence, Threat Intelligence, Smart Polling, and Vantage IQ—apply AI to classify devices, prioritize vulnerabilities, detect anomalies, and support guided remediation workflows. |  | Venture - Series Unknown | Jul 07, 2020 |  |

6 of 6 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Singtel Innov8](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/singtel-innov8) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Agrega Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/agrega-partners) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Alter Venture Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alter-venture-partners) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [ArFintech](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/arfintech) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Bridge One](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bridge-one) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [e& capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/e-capital-b034) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About Telefónica Innovation Ventures

VC Fund · Madrid, Spain

Telefónica Innovation Ventures is Telefónica’s corporate venture vehicle that invests and builds strategic partners aligned with Telefónica’s global strategy. It invests directly in tech startups or through a network of leading venture capital funds in which TIV participate as a limited partner in key markets for Telefónica. Currently, itsportfolio is formed of 10 startups invested directly and more than 80 startups invested through 12 Venture Capital funds. It has offices in Silicon Valley and Madrid, with an investment scope focused on Europe, the United States, Israel and, Latin America. It has focus on investing in 5G and next-generation communications, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, internet of things, cloud, edge, video, gaming and financial technology, and digital transformation.

5 contacts available at Telefónica Innovation Ventures.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Carla Helferich | Manager of Programs | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/carla-helferich |
| Daniel Torres | Head of New Business Development | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/daniel-torres-3858 |
| Guenia Gawendo | Managing Director | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/guenia-gawendo-2 |
| Pablo Moro Casquete | Head of New Business | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/pablo-moro |
| Rafael Amoros Gonzalez | Investment Manager | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/rafael-amoros-gonzalez |

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## FAQ

### What does Guenia Gawendo invest in?

Guenia Gawendo invests primarily in Biometrics, Cyber Security and Fraud Detection startups, most often at Seed and Series B stage. Most of the 6 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Israel. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Guenia Gawendo last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Guenia Gawendo closed in Jul 2023. Shizune tracks 6 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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